In Mr Graham, written and directed by Julius Amedume, a young man comes to terms with his inner demons to troubling consequences. A provocative topic, skilfully handled in this short film.

Really enjoyed this piece of social drama. The scene outside the playground was particularly poignant. Great acting from everyone with a sharp script by Julius.

Brilliantly directed. At once, touching and repugnant.

Mr Graham a short film by Julius Amedume

Powerful stuff.

Paul Boakye

Writer, editor and marketing specialist who sat on The Power Inquiry. Former editor and CEO of the consumer lifestyle magazine, Drum (UK), and author of five plays published for an academic audience by Alexander Street Press, USA. Recipient of business and writing awards, including prestigious accolades such as advising British government, BBC radio and TV commentator, and invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. Currently works as a communications professional, creating contagious ideas to help great brands change the conversation to their advantage, across the entire Central and West African region.

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If there’s ever an important message and lesson learnt from this documentary-style film, exploring and charting 70 years in the life of Lee ‘ Scratch’ Perry, it’s to avoid being too forth-giving and bearing the burden on your back for more than you can carry. Invite few into your world of spiritual and monetary success, according to the captivating film documenting 70 years of Bob Marley’s mentor, because those who don’t deserve your invitation will surely be the cause of your downfall. Failure to adhere to the aforementioned warnings will leave you with two options; to reinvent yourself to survive or accept your demise and disappear into irrelevance. Luckily, for Mister Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, he chose the former.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-VTECPHD9E

The Upsetter film was written, directed and produced by independent filmmakers Ethan Higbee (Red Apples Falling, The Anti-Fascist, Basedworld) and Adam Bhala Lough (Bomb The System, Weapons, The Carter), who over seven years in-the-making, seemed to be the only fortunate folks to recently catch up with Lee for the coherent one-on-one interviews featured in the film, which contributed heavily towards making it one of film’s many highlights and comparable to past rare music-related footage from the beginning of Perry’s career, bits of, which are seen on most well-documented historical reggae films. From Lee’s early childhood, the movie unfolds chronologically moving the viewer from Lee’s introduction to the Jamaican music industry, to his relationship with Bob Marley, to the rise and fall of his once vibrant Black Ark studio, to his temporary ‘disappeared’ stage of depression and drinking, and seeking his refuge to Switzerland with a new life, wife Mireille, new family (including 2 kids) and a new lease on re-launching his music career, as a solo artist.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry

Narrated by Oscar-winning actor Benicio Del Toro, The Upsetter film captures magnificent still photography and unseen video of yesteryear and today that, even as fast as they flash across the screen, muster-up a million thoughts asking yourself – “how was life in the past for Jamaicans? What truly shaped the many musical geniuses from such a small island in the Caribbean, impacting and influencing the many gems we know and possibly take for granted as ‘popular’ or ‘underground’ music of today?” Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry creatively pushed us forward by inventing his own unique formula in productions, propelling hundreds of hit-records behind the vocals of such artists as Max Romeo, Bob Marley, Junior Murvin, Junior Byles and The Congos, just to name a few. He was definitely at the forefront of this golden time, laying the foundation for the purest and most original forms of electronic music and hip-hop, before of course these genres even adopted their names or had an established industry behind them.

But besides an obvious focus on the spark in music technology led by Lee, Jamaican lingo and lifestyle, Lee’s depth of religious fanatical behavior, his fascination with painting art, his non-reggae production credits featuring The Clash, Beatsie Boys, Paul McCartney (all of whom are featured in this flick) and his bizarre display of humor, of which there’s lots within the movie to absorb, one of the most powerful aspects of this film is how and why Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry has become who he is – father, husband, singer, songwriter, producer, poet, painter, genius and madman aka ‘Pipecock Jackxon’, ‘Super Ape’, ‘Ringo’, ‘Wonder Man’, ‘Jamaican E.T.’ and many other monikers. On the surface, he appears to be a misfit or completely insane, but nobody remains married, raises a family and continues to record, tour, win a Grammy and remain as musically relevant 40+ years after his career took flight. Unless… well I won’t give away the most bizarre piece of insight Lee hints at throughout parts of the film, enabling him to escape his own demons, outside parasites and other earthly-bound human hindrances, in order for him to live successfully in whichever planet he pleases.

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry recently celebrated his 75th birthday. To view the trailer for The Upsetter and for more details on the release and the upcoming screenings, please visit: www.theupsettermovie.com

DJ Pelau

Marlon Regis aka Mr. Marlon aka DJ Pelau (pronounced “Peh-Laow”) is a multi-talented music stylist/writer that has always lived being surrounded by rich music via life’s travels. Whether in his youthful days on the festive, multicultural streets of his birthplace in Trinidad, or his adopted homes of Atlanta, New York City and now currently Los Angeles, the direction of his music through DJing or producing compilations first aims to connect to the people. With an unwillingness to limit himself to one particular genre or social scene, insisting each must possess some type of soul, style or conscious sense of spirit, you can expect a wide ranging onslaught of tracks from afro-house music, nu jazz, to reggae, afro-beat, brokenbeat, soca and even those hovering hybrids/mash-ups finding their way to solid definition. By trying to first understand how to always set that perfect ambiance through music, over the years his humility to adapt and please fused together with his visionary nature to shape listeners progressively with new music, has translated into his colorful, customized music selections or mixtapes finding a constant rotation at well-established stores, restaurants and hotels such as Prada, 7 For All Mankind, Sean John, Guess?, Runway Boutique, Gonpachi, Westin Resorts, W Hotels and many more…

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Nigerian cinema has a lot to be proud of. Currently the second largest film industry in the world (second only to Bollywood), its films have narrated the story of historical and modern Nigerians for decades and have thereby remained popular and authentic.

But when you hear the word ‘Nollywood’ what do you think? Aside from emotional story lines and beautiful people, the 40-films-out-a-week industry is also associated with its bad quality pictures and sound, speedily written scripts and cheesy special effects. But there is an emerging generation of film-makers who are attempting to change this association. “New Nigerian Cinema”, a movement that officially began in October 2010, is building a new persona for Nigerian film, producing high quality films aiming for global recognition.

Wale Ojo, actor and founder of New Nigerian Cinema.

“The starting point was to say that Nollywood as a film industry has achieved a great deal and that we have an incredible mount of talent in the country,” says Wale Ojo, actor and founder of the movement, who foresaw the need to congregate Nigerian directors and producers. “I just felt that it needed international exposure to go up to the next level. So I brought those [directors] together to develop what we now call the New Nigeria Cinema. So New Nigerian Cinema is like a child of Nollywood? it’s born out of the success of Nollywood,” explains Ojo.

Obi Emelonye, director of the coming New Nigerian release The Mirror Boy, was present at the launch of the movement held at the British Film Institute, and understood that the mood in the room was that “it was about time.” In fact it is perfect timing, because currently, Nigerian cinema is at a crisis point. An industry that relies on DVD sales, rather than box office takings, has been challenged by satellite channels such as Nollywood Now and OBE TV, which screen the newest Nollywood releases. Emelonye further explains the situation:

Obi Emelonye, writer/director of The Mirror Boy.

“There has been a steady decline in sales for Nollywood films over the last five years. This is because for a film industry that is exclusively based on DVD sales, the proliferation of TV stations showing Nigerian films, most times for free, combined with the effects of brazen piracy have all contributed to this ebb in the fortunes of Nollywood films. Then there is audience fatigue and apathy as viewers tire of the clichéd story lines and poor production values.”

The new movement is expected to survive the problems that threaten the current model by writing fresher, more challenging material, and aiming for cinematic releases and worldwide film festivals. The idea is that the films will become an “arty wing of Nollywood with greater attention to details; a kind of crème de la crème of Nollywood that can exist side by side with the old Nollywood,” whilst at the same time telling “the authentic African stories, but with production values that would mean that they can hold their own at international festivals,” hopes Emelonye.

Since the launch, the movement has grabbed and held the attention of CNN News International and other West African-based news websites and blogs. But there is also an undercurrent of scepticism that wonders whether New Nigerian Cinema will have to water down or suppress it’s Nigerian spirit in favour of more global and accessible themes. Will narratives exploring witch doctors and “Ju Ju” be sidelined in order to appeal to a general Western audience?

“New Nigerian Cinema is not an elitist movement that wants to appeal to the West or to the non-African audiences. I will take the same old stories that Nollywood has been saying for many years now, retelling it with a high technique and high production values with a stronger narrative, we’re not suppressing anything” explains Ojo.

“Authentic ‘Africaness’ is not something that can be peeled off like clothes. Nollywood is simply seeking new audiences without disenfranchising its old viewers”, adds Emelonye

Ojo also stresses that the movement will help to educate young people living in the diaspora around the world about their African history, which is often suppressed: “Many young people are sadly very ignorant of their African history and are slightly disconnected. New Nigerian cinema will fill that gap. Yaa Asantwe, a female warrior Queen; Moremi Ajasoro; these are the kind of narratives that I want to make films about and talk about.”

A soulful Genevieve Nnaji relaxes between filming.

The hope is that in the near future all eyes will be on Africa, and there will be a season of film festivals celebrating what we do best, the art of story telling.

“I hope that it will inspire other African film industries towards creating better and more accessible content, so that people will say to each other ‘Oh, African cinema has really come of age, it’s on the rise.’”

The Mirror Boy, premiers at The Empire Leicester Square, London in February 2011.

Alicia

Actor Delroy Lindon, the star of Get Shorty, Malcolm X and Clockers hails from South London. This might shock those who assumed he came from South Central. But while the accent clearly emanates from the other side of the Atlantic, the Tony nominee’s language gives his origins away.

“Tremendous”, “brilliant”, “bloke” – it’s not the vocab of your average American. But then again, Delroy Lindo is anything but average. For a man whose on-screen career has seen him murdered by James Gondalfini, outsmarted by Nicholas Cage, and blown up by John Travolta, it’s strange to learn that Lindo didn’t get into acting to work with Hollywood’s finest. “My first love’s the theatre,” he rasps, before explaining his transition to the screen. “I did a play on Broadway in 1988 – Joe Turner’s Come And Gone – and Spike Lee saw it and really liked my performance. Then, a year later, Spike asked me to come down and audition for Do The Right Thing. And I said I wasn’t interested because I didn’t like the part I was offered! – So I declined, but – thank God – Spike didn’t forget me and now we’ve made three films together.

Of the movies he’s made with Lee, Lindo regards Malcolm X as a career highlight. “It’s a film I’m really proud of, he purrs. “For reasons I’ve never understood, it’s rather under-rated, and yet the performances are excellent and Spike’s direction is incredible. And I’m proud of the way Spike fought for his film – he really had to go toe-to-toe with the execs to preserve the integrity of his movie.”

Integrity’s something Delroy Lindo knows a lot about. While his early career saw him play his share of savages and heavies, he’s now careful to steer clear of the parts traditionally held over for black performers. “I’ve turned down a lot of offers to play the black buddy who gets killed to let his white friend shoot a lot of other black people,” says the man who dreams of playing Marcus Garvey. “I don’t want to further stereotypes. But what really matters to me is the part and the performance – if a role speaks to me, that’s when I go to work.”

Lindo’s work has taken him to the four corners of the Earth. It also brought him back to London to make the Windrush drama Wondrous Oblivion. “There are so few films about the experiences of the Windrush generation,” says Lindo with regard to why he took a role in the low-budget affair. “ The opportunity to present a snapshot of what it was like for people from the Caribbean to live in England in the 1950s really interested me.” And how had London changed since he left the city? “It’s changed enormously. London felt like a much more cosmopolitan city than when I used to live there. It’s now this pulsating, culturally-rich, international metropolis.”

International and culturally-rich also neatly sum up Lindo’s career which has seen him work with giants like Gene Hackman and John Travolta and no-nonsense auteurs such as David Mamet. “Oh, David,” he sighs, the memories of Mamet’s crime movie Heist clearly still painful. “David is very definitely David – he’s very strongly who he is and has very specific ideas about how his work should be performed. To work with him is a journey – it’s a endless process of negotiation.”

As for how tough these negotiations were, Lindo spins a story of the sort of discussions you more normally associate with the UN. “My final scene in Heist is a fantastic moment in a coffee shop with Gene Hackman – it’s just incredible. Well, Mamet wanted to break that scene up – he wanted to shoot the beginning at the coffee shop counter and, at a certain point, he wanted to take the action outside. Gene and I kept going on and on at David, trying to convince him to let us play the scene at the counter. And so we really, really… well, let’s just say it took some time to convince him, but thank God we did because it’s the sort of scene you spend your career hoping to play.”

Listening to Lindo talk, it’s apparent that he has a high regard for actors – it’s quite something to hear such a tough guy describe John Travolta as “a lovely bloke.” However, he saves his kindest words for a performer on a very different stage. “Thierry Henry is extraordinary,” he enthuses. “I remember watching him in the World Cup in France, and then he wasn’t anything like the footballer he is today. To see him over the last couple of seasons, it’s like he’s turned into a different human being. And seeing him on the field every week is like watching an artist at work.”

So there you have it – Delroy Lindo, born in Lewisham, made in America, big Thierry Henry fan. You heard it here first.

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Howie

My name is Howard, I'm a solicitor and I live in London. I've always enjoyed writing in my spare-time and Colorful Times gives me the opportunity to muse on about most of my heroes.

Priscilla Sam Afua Kessie, born in Camden Town, England, is an Atlanta-based British/Ghanaian, writer/director who has contributed to an impressive number of film shorts, documentaries, corporate videos and features in her young career. Miss Kessie’s cultural experiences in Western Europe as well as the United States have influenced her greatly, just as her African heritage has inspired her to capture wonderfully unique stories on film.

Filmmaker Priscilla Sam Afua Kessie and her Cameraman at work.

Although many signs pointed towards her destiny to become an artist from as young as a primary school student, to a senior high school student, She kept pursing a completely different path. After leaving university with the intention of one day pursuing child psychology, she finally decided to turn and head towards her calling. She later went on to pursue formal training in media production, graduating with honours from Atlanta, Georgiaʼs American InterContinental University and even receiving the first place award at VidFest 2005.

Samʼs directorial eye can be seen in Maverick Entertainment Groups, Life 101: Angel’s Secret, which was released on DVD in June 2009. Other projects, such as Vivica A. Foxʼs Three Can Play That Game and 2007ʼs Dance of the Dead, show her ability to craft visual stories away from the camera, most notably through production. While Sam has grown as a strong director and a skilful storyteller, she is also a gifted screenplay writer. At the end of 2009, Sam wrote and directed a 10 minute corporate video for the West African Drilling company, Geodrill, in Ghana. In April 2010, she had a première of the documentary, Zoom Zoom – The Professor, a story about a very prestigious African boxer from her motherland, Ghana, screened in the country’s capital city, Accra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzUny4mjHs

Sam intends to establish her creative footprint in the film industry through her independent production company, Sankofa Pictures, which focuses on exceptional storytelling and visual artistry. She loves the theatre and from this love stems her passion for production design. When she is not writing or directing, she focuses on set design, production design and photography. Currently Sankofa is in pre-production to shoot their first music video with an inspirational and creative Ghanaian artist, M3NSA.

As a writer/director, Sam is a prime example of the young, diverse, yet fiercely talented filmmakers emerging from Ghana and living in the United States. “I want to be known as the kind of director who leaps over unspoken boundaries and carries the audience to unseen, maybe even dark places within themselves. Although my style of directing may be influenced, occasionally, by the fact that I am a woman and of British/Ghanaian descent, I don’t want that to define my voice as an artist. I don’t want to be boxed into one particular style or genre of films.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZnaRH1oVs0

One of her biggest goals is to one day encourage and help children, especially girls, who aren’t encourage to purse art especially in school. For more about the writer/filmmaker Sam Kessie, visit her website.

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Jack Dee

I've been an IT consultant for over 15 years. Strange to get paid for doing what you love. May be in danger of being called a geek... but who cares? I actually enjoy every opportunity to drive through the concepts, design, and creative framework on even personal web-based projects. My other passion is travel: 72 cities in 35 countries at the last count.

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Colorful Times caught up with writer and film maker Yaba Badoe to ask about the making of her new documentary, The Witches of Gambaga, and find out what prompted this latest creative outpouring and labour of love.

“I stumbled on the Witches camp at Gambaga in 1995 when I was working as a stringer for the BBC World Service in Ghana,” she said. “I was shocked that, not far from where I was born in Tamale, there were refuges for women believed to be witches. What was even more horrifying was the fact that women were condemned for witchcraft through a ritual by which a chicken is slaughtered – and depending on whether the chicken dies with its wings facing the sky or the ground – a woman is believed to be a witch or not. After spending a sleepless night at Gambaga I wanted to make a film about the women.”
 

How was the film financed?

The research on which the film is based was funded by the Ford Foundation through The Mapping Sexualities Programme, coordinated by the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town and the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana in 2004. The Commonwealth Broadcasting Trust/DFID Media Scheme paid for a cameraman, Darren Hercher, to fly to Ghana in February 2005. The money I received from the Trust enabled me to pay for transport, interpretors, film stock, employ a film editor to make a trailer and make a sizeable donation to the women at the Gambaga Camp for their time and effort. Pathways to Women’s Empowerment,  a DFID funded scheme at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, gave me money to do some follow up filming in December 2008. The EU Cultural Initiative Programme in Ghana, Forward (NGO) and The African Women’s Development Fund, gave me money to complete the film in 2009/10.
 

How long has it taken you to make your film, and what challenges did you encounter?

It’s taken 5 years to make the film. The main challenge has been to find the funding to complete the documentary – a task which wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my co-producer – Amina Mama – and well-wishers such as Yao Graham of Third World Network in Ghana, Dr Takyiwaa Manuh of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Dr Rose Mensah Kutin of Abantu for Development, Kwasi Gyan-Appenteng of the EU’s Cultural Initiative Support Programme in Ghana and Naana Otoo-Oyortey, the Executive Director of Forward in London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAN-BbEMdYs

How has the film been received?

Stakeholders who’ve seen the film have been moved by it and are keen to use it as a campaigning tool to change attitudes towards women believed to be witches throughout the continent. Things have to change and if this film will go part of the way to promoting change by helping to stop violence towards women alleged to be witches, this will be a step forward.
 

Is it tougher for a black female to see her film-making project realised?

It’s hard for any film maker to realise her vision. In the end it was progressive men and women, especially women who care, about the subject and are committed to women’s rights in Africa, who helped bring the project to fruition. Indeed, ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ is a collaboration between the 100 strong community of women at the camp, social activists in Ghana and feminist researchers.
 

Has the film achieved all that you would hope both artistically/critically and socially?

I’m very pleased with the finished film. The icing on the cake was that Dobet Gnahore – the Ivorian singer - gave us permission to use her music for a token fee. Dobet’s music makes the images in the film hit home. Her music adds to the power of the women’s testimonies. My cameraman – Darren Hercher – was also incredible. His talent shines through and illuminates the documentary. 
 

How can Africa, Ghana in particular, rid itself of a belief in “witchcraft,” and why should it?

I think it will takes us a very long time to rid ourselves of belief in ‘witchcraft’. A first step to changing attitudes is to begin talking about it and hearing from people who’ve been condemned to live as witches. The next step is to stop violence against women who are our mothers, grandmother, sisters, aunts and daughters. Public eduction and commitment by African governments to stop these terrible abuses against women are paramount. How can we develop if women are brought at every opportunity.

Simon and Ngota and Gladys Lariba run the Prepytrarian Church of Ghana's 'Go Home' project, which aims to rehabilitate 'witches' and help them return to their home communities.

How do you plan to market your film to the industry?

‘The Witches of Gambaga’ is above all a campaigning film made to contribute to a national debate in Ghana about violence against women believed to be witches. My hope is that it will be used by women’s civil rights groups and church groups to stimulate debate around accusations of witchcraft aimed at women and children. My co-producer – Aminina Mama and I – have decided to market the film through the film festival route. We want the documentary screened at human rights film festivals and festivals highlighting women’s issues in Europe, the USA, Canada and Africa. The idea is to generate interest in the documentary as a means to selling it to interested broadcasters around the world.

Where would you like your film screened and why?

As I mentioned above – I want it screened and workshoped in Ghana and throughout Africa as part of a pan-African debate about witchcraft belief and accusations. We are currently exploring funding possibilities for a screening and lecture tour of African Gender and Women’s Studies units, to promote the film as an activist resource for women’s rights. I would also like the documentary screened at International Film Festivals, and then broadcast by TV stations around the world.

Is there anything you’d like to do differently on this project?

No – making the film has been extremely demanding and challenging. I’ve learnt a lot but most important of all, I hope the film will make a difference to the lives of women condemned to live as witches in Ghana and other parts of Africa.

How or where can our readers see the full film?

The film will be launched in London at the end of November/beginning of December, as part of a series of events highlighting violence against women, to mark the 25th anniversary of Forward – a UK based African NGO that works to promote the human rights of African women and girls. All being well, The Witches of Gambaga will be available to the public early next year. By that time there will be a website and instructions on how to procure the documentary as well as other information about the film and its usage.

Asara Azindow - a successful businesswoman condemned for witchcraft during the 1997 meningitis epidemic in Northern Ghana.

What’s next?

I would love to make a film about Dobet Gnahoré and her music. Not only is she very generous, she’s incredibly talented and a rising star. If you haven’t heard her music, check out her CDs.

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Paul Boakye

Writer, editor and marketing specialist who sat on The Power Inquiry. Former editor and CEO of the consumer lifestyle magazine, Drum (UK), and author of five plays published for an academic audience by Alexander Street Press, USA. Recipient of business and writing awards, including prestigious accolades such as advising British government, BBC radio and TV commentator, and invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. Currently works as a communications professional, creating contagious ideas to help great brands change the conversation to their advantage, across the entire Central and West African region.

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Shot in black and white in 1964, Nothing But a Man is a simple, poignant film that tells the tale of one man’s struggle to break the chains that threaten to bind him to a life of drink, servitude, and irresponsibility.

Set in the segregated South of 1960s America, and written by Jewish filmmakers, director Michael Roemer and cinematographer Robert M. Young–after travelling through the region and immersing themselves in African-American life–this is arguably one of the best movies ever made on how racial prejudice stifles manhood, destroys families, and shatters communities.

With stellar performances from the two main leads, Ivan Dixon (later of Hogan’s Heroes) and jazz singer, Abbey Lincoln, Nothing But a Man should be compulsory viewing in all Sociology lessons and film schools.

Ultimately, though, this is a film most impressive because it’s nothing but a love story set amongst the harsh realities of racism in America. And you don’t see that very often; black characters considered suitable romantic leads for cinematic fiction.

The film has been deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Nothing But a Man¹ was reputedly the favourite film of Malcolm X.

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Paul Boakye

Writer, editor and marketing specialist who sat on The Power Inquiry. Former editor and CEO of the consumer lifestyle magazine, Drum (UK), and author of five plays published for an academic audience by Alexander Street Press, USA. Recipient of business and writing awards, including prestigious accolades such as advising British government, BBC radio and TV commentator, and invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. Currently works as a communications professional, creating contagious ideas to help great brands change the conversation to their advantage, across the entire Central and West African region.

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1. This film is not part of the black independent film movement but rather what Donald Bogle calls “Black Art Films.” Bogle says, “[Appearing] during the first half of the 1960s, a quartet of inexpensively but sensitively made motion pictures offered grimly realistic and cynical looks at black America” (200). Other films of this sub-genre included John Cassavetes’ Shadows (1961), Shirley Clarke‘s The Cool World (1963) and Sam Weston and Larry Peerce’s One Potato, Two Potato (1964). Nothing But a Man, positioned before the effects of the Black Power rebellion, coupled with Killer of Sheep coming after the height of the rebellion, demonstrate how little life in the Black community had changed despite the legitimization of the civil rights movement and the fury wrought by the black power rebellion of the late 1960s.

Another Oscar ceremony, the 82nd in fact, has come and gone. This year at The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, we saw Sandra Bullock take home the best actress Oscar for her role in The Blind Side, where she plays a smart, strong, rich, attractive mother, with a loving family, who takes in a fat, poor, stupid, black boy and turn his life around.

Also on Oscar night, Mo’Nique won best supporting actress for playing a fat, violent, mother on welfare, who looks on, while her partner commits incest on their daughter.

In the 82 years of Oscar ceremonies only five black actresses have won an Oscar:

1. Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (1939) for playing a maid.
2. Whoopi Goldberg for her comic turn in Ghost (1990).
3. Jennifer Hudson for playing a singer in Dreamgirls (2006).
4. And of course, who can forget Halle Berry, the first black actress to win a best actress Oscar…for Monsters Ball (2001)? In the film Halle’s husband (P Diddy) is on death row, and she sleeps with his prison guard.
5. And now, Mo’Nique in that role above from Precious (2010).

Is it just me, or can anyone else see an unsavoury pattern emerging? Maybe there’s a simple explanation.

1. There are not that many stories and films with black characters?
2. The Sandra Bullock parts aren’t being written for black actresses?
3. Black actresses aren’t being cast for roles like Sandra Bullock’s in The Blind Side?

Whatever the explanation, something needs to change. I for one am sick and tired of films where black characters are portrayed as victims, criminals, entertainers, and sexual objects! But somehow I don’t think that things are about to change any time soon. Do you?

The Blind Side has made US box-office history, becoming the first, solely female-led film to rake in more than $200m (£125m). Sandra Bullock has also won the best actress Critic’s Choice Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and the People’s Choice. I’m clearly alone on this.

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It was a flop when it was released in the cinemas, but The Shawshank Redemption is now everybody’s favourite ‘prison movie.’ Shawshank’s fans regard it as a modern-day parable, an uplifting tale of triumph over adversity – it’s a prison movie, but it’s also more than that.

For its star Tim Robbins, the themes are universal: “…although not everybody has been in jail, on a deeper, more metaphysical level, many people feel enslaved by their environment, their jobs, their relationships – by whatever it is in the course of their lives that puts walls and bars around them.”

Though a movie buff, and a lover of fiction and storytelling myself, it’s this ‘deeper, more metaphysical level’ that I have a problem with. Like ‘drug movies,’ ‘prison movies’ cannot help but both glamorise and trivialise the lifestyles of the people they portray.

Similarly, the ‘prison movie’ is seldom really about prison – prison is a metaphorical backdrop, a stage on which attractive folk can struggle, succeed, and impart perfunctory lessons about the human condition, hopefully before the cinemagoer gets bored. Moreover, the typical structure of the Hollywood movie cannot help but give the lie to the reality of prison life. The priority of the filmmaker is to keep the audience engaged, to progress briskly along a predictable narrative arc towards a logical and satisfying conclusion.

Of course, the filmmaker would argue that his or her job is to entertain rather than to educate, but as someone who works in a prison, I can’t help but find the fundamental, if necessary, untruth of almost all prison movies – even the beloved Shawshank – infuriating. By making the prisoners’ journeys symbolic and their struggles allegorical, cinema both romanticises and diminishes the truth that lies behind the fiction.

Real prison life is not romantic. It is not a backdrop against which great metaphysical dramas are played out. Prison life is routine and methodical – it does not have the inexorable narrative momentum of the movies, no promise of a heart-warming pay-off. One day bleeds into the next, and into the next, and into the next. Battles won and lost in prison are not epic or figurative. The hardships endured are not stops on the road to deliverance. Each day is a dreary accumulation of tiny indignities, which break as many spirits as they harden.

One of the most iconic moments of Shawshank comes when Robbins’ Andy Dufresne uses his privileged position with the prison governor to gain access to his office and broadcasts the strains of Mozart over the tannoy system. One by one, the prisoners drop their tools, stop playing basketball, and stand listening, transfixed, in awe. Morgan Freeman’s honeyed tones impart the heavy-handed, sentimental learning point; “And for the briefest of moments – every last man at Shawshank felt free.”

What, for many people, was the most inspirational moment of the movie was, for me, the most troublesome. For them it delivered a poignant message about the innate dignity of the human spirit – for a moment, these prisoners are ennobled by the power of the music, they are freed by it, reaffirming Robbins’ ‘deeper, more metaphysical’ message that the only prisons that exist are the ones in your head.

For me, there was something deeply patronising in the implicit casting of the prisoners as ‘noble savages,’ momentarily shaken out of their bovine mental slumber. Moreover, while the idea of prison’s being ‘a state of mind’ is one that may be immensely palatable to the viewing public, the pragmatist in me wishes to point out that prison is also a large, grey building where young men and women watch vast swathes of their lives ebb away. A poignant moment it may be, but for me it always feels like a profoundly dishonest one.

There is something quite pleasant about playing the cynic. I won’t lie; I’ve rather enjoyed bursting the sentimental bubble of more than one Shawshank
devotee in my time by rolling out one version or another of the above argument. It’s syrupy; it’s hackneyed; it’s patronising. And the killer blow, “I should know, I work in a real-life prison don’t y’know.” Mmmmm, the sweet taste of a moral victory, garnished with a healthy dollop of intellectual one-upmanship. You can’t beat it.

However, what to the cynic is a healthy scepticism of the overtly sentimental, and a refusal to reduce life to a patchwork of clichés is, to the believer, nothing more than an arrogant denial of life’s emotional reality. And sometimes life delivers a blow to the gut that even the most ardent cynic cannot ignore.

Mine came a few months ago, as I sat in the chapel of the prison where I work, dutifully – I thought – attending a performance by a handful of prisoners that had been entitled ‘Rock Shop.’ A well-known musician had spent the previous three days working with them to put together an hour-long show. I had heard them rehearsing and, in truth, had turned up not expecting much, but wishing to be seen to show my support.

Taking my place on one of the long, hard pews, I steeled myself for what I anticipated would be an hour of artless percussion-bashing and little more. But, as the first few numbers rolled by, I was incredibly impressed by the virtuosity of some of the players, and the overall quality of what they had managed to produce in so short a time. I was enjoying myself, and could feel the atmosphere in the room slowly shifting. As we in the audience listened, and the players played, it somehow began to feel…less….well… ‘prison-y’. But, I thought, only in the same way as your last day of school used to feel less ‘school-y’ because you were allowed to wear your own clothes and bring in board games to play. We were being informal, and it felt good.

Around half an hour in, as the players tuned up between songs, a small black man in a too-big t-shirt, with a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes discreetly made his way to the front of the stage. He shifted bashfully behind the microphone as an acoustic guitar strummed, and then he began to sing.

Here is where the professional cynic begins to lose his way. A moment of intense emotional clarity; the players, the prisoners, engrossed in their music, in this hymn to freedom, this Redemption Song; the audience captivated – taken captive – by the simply strummed guitar, the beautiful, keening melody that floats above us, and transforms us; a sense of being somewhere else, certainly not in a prison, not in any place of incarceration; not in any place at all, in fact.

“But my hand was made strong
By the ‘and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly”

Soon we are clapping. Soon some people are on their feet. Soon, some people have tears in their eyes and the room is bathed in a sense of escape. We, the audience, give ourselves up to the music; we are being allowed to listen, but this – I want to describe this simply, so that the words don’t disfigure it – this was a gift that the prisoners were giving to themselves.

Something came alive inside the room in that moment, as we swayed and clapped, and watched the small figure at the front of the room – eyes closed, voice clear and resonant – cast off his prisoner’s clothes and embrace freedom for us. There was no Morgan Freeman voice-over to summarise and clarify what we were sharing – if only there had been, we might have been able to hold onto it, take its buzzing potential, and do….something.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds.” Marley’s call to arms rang out loud and clear. The same ‘deeper, more metaphysical level’ I had often derided before taking on an urgent, pleading truth – take it, make this moment last. Maybe we can learn something. Or maybe we can just stand here and sway, and listen to this beautiful music forever.

But as the final chords played out, and the room erupted in applause, it was already ending. Like the flame of a candle, fluttering and gently unravelling before being extinguished, the song was over, and the applause subsided, leaving only smoke and the memory of something natural and incredible. The audience sat down, the players put down their instruments and began to tune up for the next song. The small black man in the too-big t-shirt and the baseball cap pulled low over his eyes stood down and discreetly made his way back to a corner seat until he was lost in the crowd.

Before long the concert itself was over, and we went back to our lives, the clarity of that moment – pregnant with all the possibilities of the human spirit – forgotten in our surge back toward the comforting certainties of life. For us, train times; for them, bang-up. Looking back, the weird energy of that moment seems more and more like a flaw in the design – being allowed to peer through a window that wasn’t meant to be open. Or maybe a clue, but we just haven’t worked out how to fit the pieces together as yet.

It was just a moment – it existed in our heads for only a little more than three minutes. There was no handy Morgan Freeman-voiced summary because the truth of the moment could not possibly be distilled in that way. I dare say it was different for all of us – gloriously universal and intensely personal all at once. All I know is what it meant to me. All I can say is how incredibly poignant and powerful it was to witness a group of life-sentenced prisoners making fantastic music together on a grey afternoon, in a grey building that eats lives, in the South of England. And it seems especially fitting that it should be a young black man who made us dance and cry and sing along: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.”

Perhaps the cynicism I have worn so long and so proudly at times was my ‘mental slavery’. Perhaps the whole thing was in my head. But that afternoon will stay with me for a long time. And, in the year when Bob Marley would have celebrated his 65th birthday, I will remember his words, sung by a small black man in a too-big t-shirt, with a baseball cap pulled low down over his eyes, and be thankful for them.

J Hill

Goodbye Uncle Tom is possibly the most politically incorrect “shockumentary” you’re ever likely to see. A disgusting, perverted, apparently hysterical, look at the slave trade in the mid 1800s by Italian directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi.

Filmed almost entirely in Haiti with virtually the whole population of Port-au-Prince as extras, Goodbye Uncle Tom is the story of two documentary filmmakers who go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South to film the trade in enslaved Africans.

Accused of racism in 1966 with the release of their Africa Addio – Adios Africa or Africa Blood and Guts in English – the Italian directors came up with this ‘Art House’ shocker by way of apology, supposedly. But this ain’t Alex Haley’s Roots: The Sage of an American Family (1977)–it is a graphic, vicious and violent depiction of slavery as carried out less than 150 years ago and more recently.

We apologise in advance if some of you are offended by the scenes of brutality, nudity and violence in this film intended for adults only. The entire movie of Goodbye Uncle Tom is available on YouTube in ten-minute segments, but we wanted to show it here in its entirety to illustrate just how mentally, morally, and spiritually corrupt and inhuman man can be to his fellow man. With so much talk in cyberspace currently on how God must have cursed Haiti to reap such destruction on the country; the significance or not of history, voodoo rituals, and the question of reparations, we thought you might like to see a glimpse of just what life was like for many millions of enslaved Africans.

As with the Jewish Holocaust, we believe that the true horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and its consequences for the under-development of Africa and people of African descent should be taught in schools everywhere, so that we may never reproduce similar conditions for any group of people at any time in the future. What say you?

“The horror! The horror!”

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Jack Dee

I've been an IT consultant for over 15 years. Strange to get paid for doing what you love. May be in danger of being called a geek... but who cares? I actually enjoy every opportunity to drive through the concepts, design, and creative framework on even personal web-based projects. My other passion is travel: 72 cities in 35 countries at the last count.

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